Radiological evaluation of the ascending aorta following repair of type A dissection

A patient with persistent chronic dissection proximal to an aortic interposition graft for repair of a type A dissection prompted us to review the computed tomographic (CT) findings in 14 other such patients 5-47 months after surgery. No other case of proximal aortic dissection was identified although dilatation of the aortic root proximal to the graft was present in 8 patients (57%). Persistent dissection distal to the graft in 11 patients (79%) was in keeping with that reported by other workers. Chronic dissection proximal to the surgical repair of a dissection seems a rare although important complication.